


At the Corners We Stand

by HelikaAkileh



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M, break-ups, but endgame completes the love square, but is essentially a marichat, definitely starts as ladrien, eventual identity-reveal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-06-01 03:24:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6498910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelikaAkileh/pseuds/HelikaAkileh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Wait!” he exclaimed as his hand shot out to grab her wrist.<br/>The heroine stopped in her tracks, looking down with concern. She looked him up and down to assess if he’d been hurt. A question was already forming on her tongue, but if she said anything now all his bravado might just dissipate into thin air.<br/>“I love you!” he blurted with absolutely no tact. None. At all. </p><p>Two people in love try to have their happy endings, but find out that real-life is more complicated than fairytale daydreams.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. He Said, She Said

**Author's Note:**

> Doodles for this can be found on my tumblr: http://justafewsmallsteps.tumblr.com/post/142189696057

            This time he wasn’t going to let the opportunity go to waste. He’d held his tongue so many times over the past few years, despite the yearning that boiled warm through his blood whenever she was around. Hell, she didn’t even have to be around.

            He loved her. He claimed to love her from the first day they met. Adrien still couldn’t say whether he really had fallen for her so quickly back then, but he did know that with every time they met, he fell further into what seemed like an endless void. He had to be in love with her by now. How could he not be? Ladybug was the most amazing person he’d ever witnessed in his life, with her grace, her confidence, her stubbornness and power.

            Now she was right there before him, catching her breath in the aftermath of their latest akuma fight. He’d been Chat Noir for a short time, and then used his Cataclysm to aid her. The fight didn’t end quickly afterwards though, and he was swept into the chaos de-transformed. As soon as Ladybug saw Adrien, her attention and directive shifted to his safety. She never let him out of her sight, and when she thought he was about to get hurt, she had screamed his name, _“Adrien!”_ in a tone he would never forget. It wasn’t her usual rushed concern, the one she voiced right before she shot into glorious action. The way his name escaped her throat was desperately panicked. It _had_ to mean something, his gut told him; the same thing that it meant when Volpina dangled his illusionary form right in front of her.

            Though it seemed dire he came out alright, albeit somewhat banged up. He barely managed to swerve himself out of the akuma’s raging path, and as soon as he did, Ladybug called out her Lucky Charm. It only took a few seconds, a few flashes of a polka-dotted belt buckle, the swing of her yo-yo, and then it was over. The swirls of her magic surrounded him and healed him of all his scuffs and scrapes. (Thank god, because he would hate to tell his father he’d gotten his “perfect” editorial face ruined.) In a rush, the pink light dissipated to do its work fixing the rest of Paris, but Adrien was left paralyzed. He watched as his Lady helped the middle-aged dentist to her feet, sending her off with encouraging words before scurrying to his side. Her bluebell eyes were washed with worry.

            “Are you alright?”

            He gulped to hydrate his throat. She was so close!

            “Y-yeah! I’m fine!” Wow, did he sound overly enthusiastic. He’d run into her as Adrien a number of times, but he held back during each encounter. Maybe it was because he was too afraid to approach her as just his normal self. Maybe it was because he was usually in a rush to transform or cover up his tracks that he never got to relax all that much. This time though, his entire mind was telling him to just _say it! Say how much you love her!_ She obviously held some feelings for him, enough to make her sound like she was afraid to lose him. Right? Right!

            He steeled himself. He had to do this!

            Her miraculous beeped, and her caring eyes turned apologetic all too quickly.

            Frowning, she began to stand. “I’m sorry, I-“

            No!

            “Wait!” he exclaimed as his hand shot out to grab her wrist.

            The heroine stopped in her tracks, looking down with concern. She looked him up and down to assess if he’d been hurt. A question was already forming on her tongue, but if she said anything now all his bravado might just dissipate into thin air.

            “I love you!” he blurted with absolutely no tact. None. At all.

            Another beep.

            Her mouth went slack, and his heart was racing.

            “You _what?”_ Her lips parted with her question; her bright, beautiful eyes blown out in shock.

            He gulped again, this time trying his best to swallow the nerves that would surely close up his throat if they got the chance.

            “I’m in love with you, Ladybug!” he announced, just as blunt as the first declaration.           

            Was she turning red? Well, redder. Her face, that was.

            _Beep._

            Desperately, he looked in her eye for some sort of reaction. He had only a minute!

            Ladybug’s eyes darted from him to the Paris skyline, looking absolutely and desperately trapped. Exhaling, she made herself calm down.

            “I have to go. We’ll talk about this later.”

            “Tonight?” Adrien asked quickly. They were running out of time, but he needed confirmation! He wouldn’t be able to stand waiting, he knew. He could hardly stand it now!

            She hesitated before nodding, and he squeezed her hand with reverence then let her go. Quickly, she readied her yo-yo and looked over her shoulder at him. “L-leave your window open.” Then she was off.

            Adrien fell back on his butt; a hand rose up to cover his mouth. His whole face felt hot and his heart was pounding, more so than it ever had running around Paris as Chat Noir. He couldn’t believe he had just done that. He just confessed to Ladybug.

            “I can’t believe you did that. You just confessed to Ladybug,” mirrored a nagging Plagg.

            He didn’t have capacity to retort.

* * *

 

            That night, Adrien paced around his room nervously. He knew that Plagg was good at making himself scarce when the time came, but he was so on edge that he’d sent him to hide away in his closet with a mound of Camembert to keep him occupied. Waiting alone was nerve-wracking without his teasing to distract him, not that Plagg was very good at distracting. He’d probably just make him more nervous, actually.

            He had the foresight to keep his window wide open. The night air was nice, but he had goosebumps all along his arms in his jumpy state. They should’ve set a time, because he’d been like this for god knows how long and who knows how much longer he would be going at this?

            She had probably gone off to feed her kwami, but maybe she didn’t want to meet him anymore? She’d completely changed her mind and was going to avoid his civilian self for the rest of her life. Oh no… Well, he still could be around her as Chat, but ugh. Why was he already jumping to the worst case scenario? If Ladybug said she’d be there, then she would if she could! Maybe she’d gotten held up? Great, now he was worried about her. The panicking blonde was just about to call his kwami out so he could search for his lady, but a red blur and the sound of feet touching the ground told him that he wouldn’t need to. He whipped around to see her silhouette in the moonlight. She’d never looked more ethereal.

            “Ladybug…”

            She hoped that the darkness could conceal how frayed nerves and the aching blush on her face, which had stained her cheeks since his confession only two hours ago.

            “You’re here…” he said, sounding astonished.

            Not yet trusting herself to sound together, the heroine nodded. She’d had her moment to freak out, but it hadn’t been long enough to come to a solid conclusion. She was still confused. After she’d swished herself away from Adrien earlier that night, she had no time at all to stop to get her bearings together. As soon as she found a safe spot, she felt her hot cheeks go aflame, and her vision went blurry as she replayed the scene again and again in her mind. Her transformation released and Marinette quickly took her hands from her face to give Tikki a warm landing spot. Her exhausted kwami smiled at her as she babbled on, ultimately telling her to just follow her heart.

            She went home to feed Tikki with some leftover chocolate chip cookies from that day. Oh, how she wanted to call Alya! But Alya was Marinette’s best friend, and there was no way for her to ask her for advice without giving too much away. Ultimately, she had told Adrien she would meet him later that night. She’d hoped that once she saw him, she would be able to come to a decision. As soon as she donned her mask, she thought about being a responsible hero. Now, looking at him face-to-face, everything had been tossed back up in the air. He was just so perfectly cute, looking up at her with awe and nervousness.

            Adrien had rehearsed how this was going to go. Of course he had, but seeing her now had him second-guessing… and forgetting. He was sure he had come up with _some way_ to make himself sound cool and smooth enough to compensate for his earlier actions.

            “I uh, I suppose you’re… no wait. You’re here because… you’re uh,” he was failing to use words. Absolutely failing. He could hear Plagg in his mind, snickering at his ineptitude. He focused his eyes on the ground in order to reign in.

            Then he felt a hand on his shoulder. Gentle blue eyes told him to relax. He was swept away in their comfort. She was so beautiful…

            “I love you…” he confessed dopily. Again. For the third freakin’ time.

            Eyes blew wide, and he was transported back to reality.

            “That’s not what I meant to say!”

            He watched her face quickly morph into confusion. “No! I did mean it, but it wasn’t supposed to come out like that!” His hands automatically went to scratch the back of his head. He wanted to crumple up like the piece of garbage he was and throw himself in the trash.

            “Adrien?”

            The boy sighed in defeat. “Yes?”

            “You like me?” He’d used a different word, but Ladybug was sure she couldn’t say it without a Marinette-esque stutter.

            He much more than liked her, but he slumped with a slow nod. “I really do.”

            Colors were spinning in her eyes. He liked her! Adrien Agreste, the boy of her dreams, liked _her back._ But she was Ladybug right now, and that complicated things dramatically, but he liked her! What was she supposed to say?!

            “I know that it doesn’t matter,” Adrien confessed. “You’re a superhero, and you’ve got a hundred admirers, but I’ve wanted to tell you face-to-face for so long now, even if there’s no chance that’d you’d ever want to date me.”

            “I never said that,” flew out of her mouth. She was too caught up in the way his green eyes lit up to wallow in her mistake.

            “You didn’t…” It wasn’t fully a question or a statement.

            Ladybug gulped, feeling more nervous than she had against any akuma. She had to answer him now. She had a decision to make.

            _Follow your heart, Marinette!_

            Her fists clenched, and with determination she set her jaw.

            “I didn’t.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time writing for this fandom. Gotta do a re-watch to get a better handle on them because the language barrier doesn't help. I'm not sure at all how many chapters this will end up, but I like to keep things short.


	2. Getting Closer

** Chapter 2:  **

 

 _“Does that mean that… you_ could _want to… m-me?” he finished meekly, but she understood what he meant._

 _Her blush returned, and she nodded quickly. Her face and entire body were hot; her costume wasn’t helping. Wasn’t this supposed to be thermodynamic or something? Okay, maybe she was just sweating on her own, but it wasn’t her fault. It was Adrien!_ Adrien Agreste! _The boy she pined over on a daily basis was asking her out and this had to be some wonderful fever dream!_

_“L-Ladybug. Would you—?”_

_She nodded more furiously, unable to hear him finish asking. It was too much for her soaring heart to handle. It would probably leap out of her throat if he continued. When she saw his pink cheeks stretch apart with his bright smile, she was sure that she’d skipped three consecutive heartbeats._

Marinette groaned in her room.

“What on earth was I thinking, Tikki? How is this going to work?”

“Aren’t you happy, Marinette?” her kwami asked.

“Of _course_ I’m happy! But I was _Ladybug_ , and that was very irresponsible of me. Ladybug can’t have a—oh my gosh, is Adrien my boyfriend? Oh my goodness. No. No, right? He just asked me out on a date. And I said yes!” her voice pitched high at the end of her sentence.

“You actually didn’t say much of anything!” Tikki peeped up, teasing her worked up girl.

Marinette groaned again, letting her head fall back while practically collapsing against her desk chair. “I didn’t. I got so nervous because he was _looking_ at me with his beautiful perfect eyes and beautiful perfect face! It’s not fair.”

The kwami giggled, the sound oddly reminiscent of bubbles popping. “Ladybug’s one true weakness: model boy smiles.”

“Tikki, what do I do?” the girl repeated desperately as she got up. She hadn’t been able to sit still this whole night, but at last she was feeling emotionally and physically drained. She’d dealt with so much in this one day that her feet stung as they climbed the ladder to her bed. Her knees had felt weak especially, and at last she collapsed on her back into the embracing, cool comfort of her mattress.

Tikki followed Marinette up and hovered in front of her with optimistic empathy on her round, adorable face. “I told you to follow your heart, Marinette, and that’s what you did.”

“I know…” she sighed. “But a hero follows her _head_ , not her heart.” She remembered back when she had just started being Ladybug. It had been her mantra to get her through many tough situations, including nearly revealing herself to a curious, though very sincere, Chat Noir.

“You have a wonderful heart, too. It’s worth giving it a listen,” Tikki offered sincerely.

Confused and exhausted, the girl sighed deeply as she sank further into her comforter. “What did I just get myself into?”

“A date with Adrien!”

Marinette turned abruptly to hide her face as she half shrieked, half squeaked into her fluffy pink pillow. TIkki’s laughter rang like little chimes as the heroine’s heart hammered away.

 

* * *

 

 

“Y-you know,” Adrien started, “I’m not really sure how this is supposed to work.” His hand made its way to the back of his head; a trait she had picked up on early on from watching him. It was adorable.

“It’s not like I’ve really done this before, you know,” she supplied, hoping that her teasing would somehow calm the both of them down.

The model’s eyes widened a little, and she wasn’t sure why.

“L-like your f-first date?”

Immediately she blushed harder, heart ramming painfully against her ribcage. How was she supposed to answer this? Technically not? “N-no!” Her arms came up in a spasm of stiff movements. “Not my first date ever.” Well, maybe it could have been? “But as Ladybug, yes.”

If he was disappointed or relieved, he couldn’t tell. Hopefully his reaction didn’t lean either way. His head was swimming with thoughts. Who did he have to compare himself to? Who exactly had she gone on a date with? Who _was_ she when she went on those dates? Lastly, “Oh my god, it’s your f-first date,” he was ready to choke on his words. “A-as Ladybug,” he corrected quickly.

She wondered if her stuttering came off as cute when she was Marinette as Adrien’s was now. Nodding, she let herself smile genuinely.

“Ah, and we’re stuck here in my room,” he sighed, clearly upset. “That’s not how any first date should work. I’m supposed to take you out somewhere nice, treat you, cool stuff.”

“Hey,” she reassured, taking his hand to get his pretty greens eyes off the floor and to her face, “if it’s a first date with _you_ , then it’ll be wonderful. What were you thinking?”

God, she was so perfect.

He melted. “Maybe a movie and getting to know each other?”

Once again, he was greeted by her gloriously warm smile. The darkness of his large room had never been so filled with light.

“That sounds lovely.”

 

* * *

 

They sat in his room, on his couch in the dark. It was their fifth date, and he’d kept his stuttering to a minimum now, though his heart felt like it was on a looping roller coaster whenever she came around. After finishing another movie, they’d decided to try and get to know each other better.

“Favorite color?” he asked.

“Pink.”

“Blue,” he sighed as he looked longingly into her eyes, too distracted by her dilating pupils to notice her cheeks glow with her favorite color.

“Favorite animal?”

Cheekily, he wanted to say ladybugs. What even was his favorite animal anymore? “Cats?”

For a second, Chat Noir flashed in her mind. A pang of guilt hit her like a drumbeat, but she pushed it aside to play their game of Q&A. “Hamsters.”

“Oh, those are cute. I’m not allowed to have pets.”

“Me neither. My—“ she stopped, about to explain how she lived in a bakery, and any animal dandruff or fur in the air would be a hazard. Adrien was giving her a patient, waiting look though, so she had to come up with something. “My parents are allergic.”

He nodded. “My father’s just strict, and animals smell. It’s better anyways. We’re always out now, especially since I stopped being homeschooled. There wouldn’t really be any time to give a pet love or affection,” He sighed. His father didn’t really have time to give his own _son_ any love or affection, let alone an animal. He had wanted a pet for a long time though, to abate the loneliness of his big, empty home, but his father simply had Nathalie fill up his schedule more to keep him busy.

Ladybug smiled in understanding. “I don’t have a lot of time either.” Her eyes drifted off to the ceiling.

Adrien stared at her, suddenly remembering how his lady had a very real daytime life. “What do you do in your free time?” Somehow the question felt extremely personal.

He watched, mesmerized, as she pursed, flattened, and twisted her lips to chew over the question. Clearly, she didn’t have a prepared answer, but she was going to be very careful about the information she supplied. It was like remembering that he was looking at her through a window—just a peep into her life, but not the full picture. But he was happy with anything she gave him, ecstatic enough that he even got her to pull away the curtains to wave back at him.

“I like to make art.” Sketch. Design. Sew. Stitch. Knit.

“Oh, what kind?” He was honestly interested.

Again, she had to think.

Again, he waited with eager patience.

“All sorts of stuff,” she decided was the best answer. She also thought it was a good idea to move on. “What about you?”

“Me?”

“What do you do for fun?”

Adrien’s green eyes lifted up to his ceiling, fishing for answers. He did so much, it was hard to distinguish what amongst it was actually fun. Honestly, aside from the rare chance to hang out with his friends, the most fun he had was running around in Paris clad in a black leather cat suit.

“Exercising?” he guessed, was a good way to put it. _Being with you,_ he wanted to say. He loved it most, air whipping around as they strode through the city on patrol. He loved to watch her bright red silhouette weave in and out of the streets and skies.

Ladybug quirked her mouth up in an amused smile.

The action was so simple, but it felt like she had gone into his throat to sweep his words out.

“Being with you,” brushed past his lips. He was so bad at holding his tongue around her. It was a wonder he hadn’t spilled all his secrets yet. “It’s m-my favorite.” Great, his stutter was back. Also his heart rate was up to a mile a minute.

“Adrien…” Ladybug’s cheeks flared red.

Damn. They were just starting to relax around each other. Then he just had to go and blurt out more overwhelmingly mushy crap. She made him do it, with her perfect smile on her perfect lips. Lips that were getting closer. Closer. Oh, he couldn’t see them anymore. Why? Oh, because his eyes were closed. Now he’d never be able to tell where her lips went.

Oh, nevermind. There they were. Pressed right up against his.

Oh my god. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, apologies! Hopefully I'll have more time to write during my vacation here in Helsinki!


	3. Ladybug

Marinette enjoyed her dates with Adrien. They were always cozy, because they couldn’t really go out in public.

A few times, she’d managed to sneak him out of his room and onto some Parisan rooftops. It was always late at night when people were hardly awake, because they were both high profile people. Adrien couldn’t be seen out of his house (strict father and all), much less parading around with a super heroine. She was, well, she was Ladybug, and Ladybug hanging around in the middle of the night with super models wasn’t the smartest idea either.

She didn’t do that often, and she was very apprehensive to do so. Sneaking into her boyfriend’s house was its own risk, but being found outside would be worse. If someone were to find out about them it would be horrific. It’d be all over the media. Then Hawkmoth would find out and probably use Adrien against her. She’d already been through that enough with Lila as Volpina. The heroine already knew that the boy was one of her biggest weaknesses both in and out of her suit.

She sighed, rubbing her hand against her temple to ease the oncoming headache. Having a boyfriend wasn’t supposed to be this complicated, was it?

Maybe what stressed her out most was the thought of a certain black cat, finding “His Lady” huddled up with another boy. He knew very well that she wasn’t “his” but she knew that he did care for her very much. The guilt gnawed at her, both when she was with Chat Noir and when she was with Adrien. For one thing, she was being a terribly irresponsible hero. Dating as _Ladybug_ was putting her identity and a civilian at risk! She couldn’t face Chat Noir with that hanging on her shoulder. Just what kind of example was she setting? She hadn’t even told him she had a boyfriend now, not that it was really any of his business… but he was her _partner_ , and… it was so obvious that he had feelings for her. He deserved some amount of the truth, but thinking about hurting him was excruciating.

Then there was Adrien. She never quite told him all the reasons that she hesitated to actually go _out_ for dates, even when it seemed plausible. She never admitted that though most of Paris was probably asleep, her partner very well could be up and about with his bright green eyes that could see just fine in the dark. She never did tell her sweet boyfriend how that specific scenario was the one that made her stomach churn the most.

Instead, Ladybug contented herself to bring snacks (nothing from the bakery because it would be too obvious), settle on Adrien’s comfy couch, and watch a movie or cartoon or television show with the boy of her dreams.

* * *

Marinette had to deal with the repercussions of Ladybug’s dating life sometimes. Staying up late kissing her cute boyfriend did not make waking up and going off to school all that easy. She’d always had a bad habit of being late, which got more frequent when she starting patrolling at nights to make sure Paris was safe. Now that she had added date nights into the mix, it only worsened.

She noticed how often sweet, kind Adrien would yawn in class, and that’s when she decided that their dates would just have to have a curfew or be scheduled when it wasn’t a school-night. She would have noticed sooner, had she been able to keep her own eyes open.

Adrien hardly put up a fight about it, though he wasn’t the biggest fan of the decision.

“I hardly get to see you as it is,” he complained, doing his damnedest to put his modeling career to use with a cute pout.

Never mind that he _did_ see her all the time. They’d seen each other a few hours ago at school, and they’d see each other again the next few days.

Hell, he was even going to see her over the weekend for a hangout with Alya and Nino.

But that wasn’t the same, because in each one of those instances he was seeing Marinette, not Ladybug.

She frowned and folded her arms. “Nuh-uh. No use trying to be adorable with me.”

He grinned lopsidedly—an expression he hardly made in public, but it struck her as very familiar. “Are you _sure?_ ”

She had to gulp. He was so good-looking! Tikki’s words replayed in her mind: _Ladybug’s one true weakness: model boy smiles._ She would not be falling for that trick tonight.

“I’m sure,” she said, kissing his nose.

He grabbed her waist and pulled her down to hold her close. She had to stifle a yelp.

“Fine, but you’re making it up to me tonight,” he huffed against her cheek.

Ladybug’s one true weakness: Adrien Agreste.

* * *

 

Time apart actually did them a lot of good.

Dropping in to Adrien’s house on the weekdays really sucked up a lot of time for Marinette to do anything creative. Even when inspiration struck her, it was usually a bad time. She got a few crude sketches in every now and then, but she needed to use her time to finish homework, so they’d lay there undeveloped. Now that they only had dates on the weekends, she had time to actually create things.

She also had time for her family and Alya.

A few weeks ago she’d made a terrible slip-up when her best friend invited her to watch one of Adrien’s photoshoots.

_“I’ll see him later,” Marinette said tiredly. They had a date later that night._

_Alya looked at her like she suddenly turned into a zebra._

_Her eyebrow raised. “What do you mean you’ll ‘see him later’? Is something going on between y-“_

_Marinette quickly snapped back into the reality, her arms flailed until one hand slapped itself onto Alya’s accusing mouth._

_“I mean! I will see him later when the magazine comes out! Obviously. Later as in, way later. I’ll see the final pictures for the spread.”_

_“You do remember that there’s about a hundred shots taken, and they’re only going to show maybe five or six? Think about all the time and outfits girl!”_

_Her mouth squirmed as her head spun. She laughed nervously._

_“That’s true, b-but A-Adrien is probably embarrassed by all the extra shots anyways, and I’d hate to distract him! Besides, he’s bound to catch on if he sees us sneaking around at a shoot. Don’t want to look like we’re stalking him!”_

_A crash distracted them. They both whipped their heads around to see a very blue young woman floating above them._

_Alya got that look in her eyes that said ‘_ Ladyblog mode activated.’

_Marinette had never been so grateful for an akuma attack._

She finally got her head back on straight, at least to a manageable state. Now that she only saw Adrien twice a week, it was a lot easier. She’d become more productive, she was back to her regularly scheduled only-sometimes tardy for class habits, she had time to design, time for family and friends, and time to feel like a whole person. She even noticed that Adrien was looking a lot more alive in school again. Good. Things were working out.

On weekend nights and when duty called, she was Ladybug, protector of Paris and secret girlfriend of Adrien Agreste. The rest of the time she was simply Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  

* * *

 “Ladybug…” he sighed dreamily for the nth time.

She did her best to swallow the rising weight from her chest. What was it? Sadness? Disappointment?

Several months in, and it wouldn’t go away. It only grew with the number of days she saw him, the dates they went on, the times that they kissed.

She wanted to cry. He always treated her so kindly and sweetly. She really loved how much Adrien adored her—adored _Ladybug,_ because that’s the one he cared about. He loved _Ladybug,_ and _Marinette_ would just have to deal with that.

Adrien didn’t light up to second he saw Marinette. He didn’t nervously inch closer to hold Marinette. He didn’t spend his time daydreaming about Marinette. It was all for Ladybug, and even though she _was_ Ladybug, she was also Marinette. That was the problem. That was the issue gnawing at her.

She was Marinette.

And Adrien didn’t like Marinette.

But oh man, did she love Adrien…

What a weird position to be in, to be in love with someone that loved you back, but not _you._ Was she jealous of herself? Sort of. Argh, how ridiculous! She knew that Ladybug deserved the attention she got. Ladybug was Paris’s hero; she’d saved the city many times. She worked hard, and that was someone worthy of adoration.

Ladybug was only a part of her though. Graceful and athletic in a way Marinette was not without her red spandex, but also confident and brave, loyal, and caring. Those were all Marinette. She should try to convince herself that by loving Ladybug, Adrien really did love her deep down.

But he’d seen Marinette already. He knew her: clumsy, stuttering, shy, and flustered. He barely batted an eye at her, not that she could blame him.

Who would want ordinary Marinette over _miraculous_ Ladybug?

It was one of the thoughts that kept her from just confessing her secret to him. _I’m Marinette!_ There were other reasons too though. She had to keep her identity from him to protect them both. No one else knew, not her family, not Alya, not Chat Noir… and she always thought that her partner would be the first to know if she ever revealed it. More than anyone else, he deserved that truth.

But she was just Marinette. Wouldn’t they be disappointed? Wouldn’t Adrien be horrified? She had been sitting behind him this whole time, never saying a word about it. Not a hint. She’d been behind him this whole time, and he hadn’t noticed.

She felt her insides twist. He hadn’t noticed. Who could blame him? Who would ever think that underneath her mask, Ladybug was just Marinette Dupain-Cheng?

“Ladybug.”

 _Marinette!_ Her inner voice was screaming.

He laced his fingers with hers. “You’re amazing.”

Holding back the sting behind her eyelids, she kissed her boyfriend again. She took the chance to gather herself back together.

“I’m…”

_Marinette!_

“So glad you think so.”


End file.
